she wasn’t so breathlessly nervous, she would have laughed. As it was, she waited until the butler had retreated inside, took one last scan of the windows to be sure she wasn’t being watched, and then led her horse around the back of the house and tethered the animal near what she guessed to be the cook’s shed. She determined that speed was of the utmost necessity, but knew that her feminine charms would be needed as well. She pasted on a smile and appeared quite abruptly around the side of the house.
Sir Arthur’s gardens were manicured to perfection. There was a great hedge maze in the centre and various shrubberies and topiaries along the outer edge. Thankfully, he was hiding amid none of this nonsense but was in fact sitting quite near the house on a long, stone patio of sorts.
“Sir Arthur,” she called.
He turned, clearly surprised, and set aside the paper he had been reading. He was quite alone and seemed not at all engaged in anything that should have required Margaret to wait to speak with him. It confirmed her suspicions that the butler had sent her away because he disapproved of her sudden visit and her reputation, not because of any real need for a delayed conversation.
He stood at once, looking around as though expecting her to be accompanied by some servant or chaperone.
“Lady Margaret?”
“Before you speak about what a pleasant surprise this is,” she said airily, trying her best to mimic Amanda’s elegance and free way of speaking, “allow me to acknowledge that this is all very untoward and I gave no announcement of my presence beforehand. You will forgive me for approaching you here in your garden, but your butler turned me away and I found that I couldn’t pass another minute without bringing a matter of the utmost legal importance to your attention.”
He frowned. “By all means, my lady, speak on.”
She wasted no time. “Captain Bateson, a dear friend of mine whom I respect greatly, has been trapped into the obligation of a duel with a villain by the name of Lord Waddington, and I am here to plead that you will exercise your superior standing in this county to do something about it.”
Sir Arthur blinked. “You know about that?” he asked numbly.
Margaret took a beat to understand what he meant. “Yes,” she said slowly. “Although I confess I am surprised to find that you know. I was aware that Major Moorhouse was his second, but I hardly thought a man of your sense and calibre would agree to a duel of this sort. It’s shameful.”
Sir Arthur sighed and moved as though to sit down, but when Margaret did not accept his invitation to do the same he was forced to continue standing, portly and out of breath as he seemed to be.
“I do know of this, my lady, but I fear there is very little that I can do under the circumstances. Gentlemen get themselves into these sort of scrapes –”
“Let us speak no more of gentlemen when we are discussing the immaturity of fighting to the death over a matter of pride,” Margaret snapped. “I did not interject myself here for the sake of hearing another defence of the brutality of all this. I came to save Captain Bateson, and I have some information that I think, coming from you, might be able to do it. Do you know where the event is to take place?”
Sir Arthur seemed quite taken aback. He shook his head silently. Margaret nodded. “I thought not. I know the time – tomorrow at sunrise – and you happen to live with the primary’s second, Major Moorhouse. You will follow him at a discreet distance in the morning and will take some information I shall share to put an end to this madness. It must be you – for I will not be expected – and you ought to bring a magistrate to lend power to the halt of the violence.”
“A magistrate will mean arrests,” he said.
“Not if you play your hand right,” Margaret said. “I know you are friendly with all the well-known people in this county. Use one of those friendships to invite the magistrate out on a harmless walk. You will think of some way to pass off whatever you find in the forest as something other than duelling, I’m sure. With the magistrate present, they will be forced to listen to the information you have to offer.” She looked towards the door and